This disclosure relates generally to the field of digital image photography and, more particularly, to methods, devices and systems to dynamically capture and select multiple images so as to mitigate image blur due to motion. As used herein, the term “camera” refers to any device capable of capturing a digital image. Illustrative camera devices include digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLR), compact or point-and-shoot cameras, embedded image capture devices such as those found in mobile telephones, and multispectral imaging equipment used in, for example, the medical field.
During normal operations, a camera's auto-exposure (“AE”) system can adjust the camera's exposure time, aperture, gain/ISO, and the use of pixel binning operations to achieve an optimal exposure value (EV). By way of example, if the light level in a scene decreases an AE system can compensate by increasing the camera's exposure time, opening its aperture, adding gain (to the signals coming from the camera's sensor element), combine pixels (pixel binning), or some combination of these operations in order to obtain an image of sufficient brightness. The relationship between these parameters is generally referred to as “exposure program modes.”
To mitigate image blur caused by camera motion (e.g., “hand-shake”), one mode might avoid longer exposure times by increasing the camera's aperture and/or gain. These adjustments, however, can result in images with decreased depth of focus and/or increased levels of noise. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide a mechanism to avoid or reduce the effect of these problems by adjusting a camera's image capture, selection and fusion operations based, at least in part, on camera motion.